I went to bed at 1am and God woke me up at 6am, and I could not go back to sleep. I felt the pressing need to get on my computer, so I decided to blog. Not sure what this is going to look like, but I feel like God is placing something in my spirit that apparently needs to be said. So I’m stepping out in faith to see what it is.
Today is Dec31st, the last full day of 2010. As I look back on this year, its hard for me to believe that I actually traveled to 13 countries in all, made the relationships that I did, and had the experiences that I had. It’s very cliche, but it does feel like a dream…and it should. We serve a radical God, so when He calls us into something, it will be far from ordinary. In fact, I’m beginning to notice a pattern about God’s calling: it will seem outrageous when He first tells you about it, it will come at a very high price (there is usually something large that needs to be given up, like your rights, your material possessions, self-will, etc), and it will scare the crap out of you to have to do it (at least that’s my initial reaction). I love that line from Chronicles of Narnia, when the beaver refers to Aslan, and he says “He’s not safe, but he’s good.” I can’t think of a more perfect statement about the Lord.
Yes, serving the Lord is intense, but for me there is no turning back. Everything else lacks purpose and meaning, not to mention that life becomes really boring, when God’s not in it. Especially compared to the adventures that He throws you in. It’s like going from living in Lord of the Rings to spending most of your day in a boring, meaningless job and sitting in traffic. There’s just so much more to life. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
The typical New Year’s resolution is to get in better shape, but what good does that do, if you’re not really living in the first place. We think we know what we want out of life, or what an amazing life looks like. However, our dreams and plans fall so short of the life that God has waiting for us. Make a New Years resolution, to stop steering the ship and let Him be the Captain. (These are the exact words He told me, while I was sitting in a tree house in Cambodia, and they are still changing my life.)
God is about love, adventure, beauty, and danger. He makes up all the qualities of the most adventurous movie or fairytale. Why do you think we are so drawn to them? It’s because you really are longing after Him. I dare you to follow Him and see what happens. I guarantee your life will never be the same, and it will be better than the craziest dream or imagination you could come up with.
